Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy meet in the semi-finals of the Masters on Saturday after a ‘difference of opinion’ has left the former good mates ‘not as close as we once were.’ Both players have looked good at Alexandra Palace this week,

Mark Allen has tried to play down his feud with Shaun Murphy ahead of a crunch meeting between the pair at the Masters. The two rivals will go head-to-head at the semi-final stage at Alexander Palace, having both looked in assured form this week.

Shaun Murphy makes 147 to help seal win over Mark Allen and reach Masters final - Murphy, who had missed a maximum chance earlier in the tournament, completed only the sixth perfect break in the history of the Masters.

Shaun Murphy hailed one of the greatest moments of his career after he produced a maximum 147 break in his Masters semi final win over Mark Allen. The former world champion came close to achieving the feat in the previous round against Neil Robertson but managed to snooker himself behind the blue attempting to get up to the yellow.

Shaun Murphy is on the verge of a second Masters title after he established a 6-2 lead over Kyren Wilson at the end of the afternoon session of Sunday’s final. A magnificent 147 break by Murphy against Mark Allen had sent the ‘Magician’ into the showpiece at Alexandra Palace and he continued his fine form against world champion Wilson.

Some more solid scoring and safety play from the Northern Irishmanextended his lead before Murphy won the third framewith a break of 66. A long red helped set Murphy, the 2015 champion, on his way to a run of 83 as he levelled the match at 2-2 at the mid-session interval.

Shaun Murphy compiles only the sixth 147 maximum break in the history of the Masters, in his semi-final against Mark Allen.